Gregor in the Deathland
by skiaholic
Summary: Three and a half years have gone by and everything has changed for Gregor. From going to highschool to controlling his rager senses, he is ultimately driven back to the Underland which has changed just as much. Follow the warrior in his journey to reignite peace in the Underland.
1. The Reason Why

A/N First of all, serious props to Suzanne Collins and her success in the greatest story ever written (or at least in my mind) and a motivation boost for my own literary achievements. Going to be my first fan-fiction so throw what you've got at me, the truth or not I WANT REVIEWS! enjoy!

_Scratch scratch scratch—_The slightest sound of a fight on the floor brought Gregor out of his dream. He swung his legs onto the floor and sat in discontent; he was having a good dream, the first dream in a longtime where he wasn't in the underland which made him feel like a _normal_ boy. It was 3 years, 5 months, and 4 days ago since he was last in the underland, like anyone was keeping track, and he'd seen the underland for his last time. "I could've been delusional" He thought to himself, it all happened 3 and a half years ago, but the scars and nightmares were all too real.

His attention was brought back to reality when the scratching on the floor resumed, and a beam of light from the window illuminated a chase on the floor, a large brown menace in pursuit of a white ball of fur. The rat eventually caught up to the mouse and climbed on top of it, pawing at whatever was in its jaws. The sight brought the vivid memories back: hundreds of nibblers crying and hissing at the queen only trying to defend their litter from the oncoming gas, Twitchtip tortured in a stone pit with fellow rats leaping around the edge like a pack of wild hyenas, but mostly a vicious reenactment of the Bane on top of him, pawing relentlessly at Gregor just as the rat is doing to the mouse. When Gregor came to, he was on his feet and had both the gnawer and nibbler in his hands, with a tight fist clenched around each one. He felt the rager blood seeping through his veins into his hands, wanting to crush, wanting to kill, but the two creatures looked so innocent now like the Bane looked when he was first rescued by Gregor.

Gregor tossed the two crushed bodies into the trash.

Gregor had developed a new occupation to keep his rager feelings controlled. Now whenever he felt the onset coming, he would sit down with a piece of paper and pencil and draw. He never knew what he was drawing but he would just draw, line after line, circle after circle, but a picture always came out in the end. In the three and a half years gregor has been out of the underland, only once has he lost his rager senses; luckily it was in the comfort of his own home and only resulted in a fist sized hole in the wall. But since he has discovered drawing he has kept his mind in a steel trap. The blood on his hands smeared the pencil lines and soaked through the paper but that was the furthest thing from his mind. 30 minutes later when his therapy session had finished he set down the very dull pencil and looked at his final masterpiece. It was Luxa. . . Not only Luxa but Luxa crouched with a sword wielded surrounded by a ring of rats, and all the blood from his hands had smeared Luxas image. He crumpled the image and threw it under his bed where it bounced off a mountain of crumpled sheets of paper back onto the floor. In fact, his entire bedroom was littered with these sheets of paper: they were coming out from under his bed, falling off his desk, the corners of his room unnoticeable by these wads of paper.

Gregor went back to lay down on his bed, glancing at his alarm clock it was only 4:30. He knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep so he didn't try, but just layed on his bed reliving his days in the underland. Not the fights and wars he's been through but the happy times: the nursery where the baby children played with the baby mice, Lizzie playing with ripred on their off-time from deciphering the code of claw, and that moment Gregor would kill to relive, the moment when he first kissed Luxa in the prophecy room.

Soon enough Gregors thoughts were broken by the beeping of the alarm clock and the flashing of 6:30. The idea of playing sick today crossed his mind, the events that just occurred couldn't possibly in any way affect his schooling for the better. But when he recalled that this would be the third time this week he's fallen ill of a mysterious sickness, he better act like nothing ever happened if he wants to keep whatever is left of his fading mothers faith.

The sound of cereal bouncing into a ceramic bowl reached his ears before he even saw the kitchen. Lizzie seemed like the only one who left the underworld with any sense of sanity. She was also the only member of the family who really saw a future in the overland: good grades, good health, and good friends, lucky for her she had escaped from the underland mentally unscathed. Then came boots, we call her Marge short for Margaret now, she grew out of the name boots shortly after we had left the underland. The cute days of puddle boots and improper pronunciation were over. Now she's a converse wearing pre-teen whose room is filled with hip-hop star posters and plays obnoxious music all the time.

"Ugh cereal again, tell mom I'm tired of cheerios and want something else!" Marge complained loudly, obviously unscathed by the 6:30 wake-up.

Gregor just sat there and stared at the bowl of cheerios softening in the milk, stirring the cheerios in circles with his spoon.

"Boots, mom has already left for work so if you really want you can make something yourself but this is all we've got." Lizzie the mother replied affectionately to boots. Finishing her bowl of cereal and emptying it in the sink. "I'm off, Marge, make sure you don't miss your bus again this time! And Gregor, do you think you're feeling well enough to go to school today?" She has picked up on my streak of mysterious illness, but I just nodded that I will. "Well then, I'm off to the library to get some studying in" Lizzie kissed the head of Gregor and Boots.

"What does she even need to study for?" Gregor thought in his head, "She's only going into the seventh grade!" Obviously whatever she was doing was better than what Gregor was, his grades scraped by passing, averaging 2.5 GPA on a good semester. High school had hit Gregor like the Bane hit him in the underworld. But he had overcome the Bane, so he can overcome school to he thought again in his head.

Gregor left the untouched bowl of cereal to get ready for school, Marge was big enough to get dressed by herself and get onto the bus these days so he didn't give her a second thought. But ever since the underland Gregor had changed. Not only acting strangely but nowadays he wears dark and baggy clothing to school, just to deter people from interacting with him. When he reached his room his alarm clock was already flashing 7:15 so in a mad dash, he threw his clothes on to make the bus.

It was a New York November, not really snowy outside but just cold, wet, and windy. Luckily the bus ride was short, and the school was somewhat welcoming, a way to get his mind off the underland and the madness going on in his home. He was a zombie in school, doing the same routine he had done the last 4 months of school and will do the next 4 months also: Empty the contents of his backpack in his locker, all the while staring at nothing but the ground, then walking to his first period class which was math. Luckily it was math, Gregor liked math, it was a class where it didn't matter who you were or where or how you grew up, math wasnt subjective, math didn't have favorites. Math was just numbers, big numbers, numbers you can get lost in and that's what Gregor liked about it.

The bell rung and Gregor was already at his seat, drawing another picture in his notebook as late students filed in and protested their excuses for being late - Gregor didn't care. Too bad today was matrices, a particularly simple subject Gregor didn't enjoy since he could breeze through it from the start. After finishing the concept quiz early he went back to his drawing, not out of therapy for his uncontrollable bloodthirst but this time just out of boredom. His little world of lines and circles was cut short when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

His heart-rate spiked up and he gripped his pencil in his fist in case someone had decided to attack him while his back was turned, but a familiar voice changed his attitude in a fraction of a second.

"Hey, do you know how to do this? I am totally lost." A voice asked from behind him, a voice he hadn't heard in three and a half years. Gregor turned wide-eyed but was slightly dismayed when it wasn't who he thought it was.

"Uhhhh, yeah, you see all you have to do is…."

"GREGOR, LUZANNE!" mr. Dangle cut Gregors explanation off mid-sentence, "Cheating on a quiz, that's going to be a 0 for both of you for today!"

Gregor felt ashamed, this was his only class he did well in and that his mother was proud of him for. But the thought was short lived when he saw who he was talking to. The girl, Luzanne which sounds a lot like Luxa, looked a lot like Luxa. The pasty skin bordered by snow-white hair with a set of almost shaped eyes embedded in the middle, although the eyes were a misty gray, not violet. Even her face and jaw resembled that of Luxas.

When the bell rang Gregor was the first one out of the class, leaving his large anatomical drawing of a gnawer with each weak spot labeled and notes on how they use their claws, tail, and teeth. Gregor thought about doubling back to reclaim his picture but left it, not worth the chance to confront Luzanne again. The next two classes of Gregors were terribly the longest in his life, world history which he manages to sit in the corner, never the back because the back is where the trouble-makers are and trouble attracts attention. You always want to be on the furthest side of a classroom to elude a teachers attention. But after that was gym which he never enjoyed since he never partook in it. Last week he had to sit out because he 'sprained his wrist' but this week he was thinking more along the lines of food poisoning, he did look a little pale from the lack of sleep.

Then lunch, the worst period of all, a time of day when rumors fly and gossip is told. In fact, more lies are probably consumed about people than sandwiches are consumed in that 35 minute period. Nobody sat with Gregor, and Gregor sat with nobody, that's the way it always has been and always will be for Gregor. But Gregor was excited for this lunch period for a change, he wanted to know more about Luzanne, why she was here all of a sudden and how she looks so much like an underlander. Fortunately she too was new to the school so she sat by herself, giving Gregor a good view from a table diagonal.

After twenty minutes into the lunch period, four people walked over to her table with not kind intentions.

"What's wrong paper skin? Scared the sun's going to bite ya?" Said the first girl, a big girl who took the seat right next to her.

"You've got hair grayer then my grandparents must run in the family." Said another big boy who sat down at the table across from her, taking her cookie and eating it himself. Luzanne seemed not to move at all, fearless and bravery Gregor thought at first, but at second glance she had her eyes closed and her head down with her lips moving, as if she were praying they'd go away.

Gregor felt a rager sensation jolt down his spine through his legs ready to attack, but tore his eyes away from the scene, frantically searching his pockets for a paper and pencil but found none. Then he noticed the lunch tray he had in his hands had been crushed by his own hands while he was watching the scene ahead of him, he had to get his rager feelings under control! So he clenched his eyes close to not further invigorate his uncontrollable hate to the bullies.

"What are you stupid or something!" Another voice shouted out which he knew was directed towards Luzanne.

Gregor was on his feet.

Fighting every nerve not to spring forth and rip the throats out of every kid in the cafeteria he pried his eyes open slowly just in time to see a hand swipe lunchtray, lunchbox, and all of the contents on it onto the floor and the four upper-classmen stand up laughing, Luzanne still in her concentrated state of prayer.

Gregor felt his body being take control of, unable to fight what was in his blood Gregor blacked-out for a second. For the second time that day, when he came to the entire cafeteria had gone silent as a graveyard and all eyes were focused on one person, Gregor. After glancing around he saw the boy who had taken her cookie sprawled on a table two tables front were he stood and the other two bullies mangled together at his feet, blood flowing from their noses and limbs intertwined with one another. Then he noticed the girl was still in his hand grasped by the back of her shirt, her eyes stared huge and dumbfound at him, so Gregor just tossed her aside. Luzanne hadn't moved a centimeter, head still tilted forward and eyes sealed shut, it was then all hell broke loose as the fire alarm went off and sprinklers drenched the cafeteria.

Screams could be heard echoing throughout the neighborhood as everyone from the school rushed out. Gregor too joined the wit less crowd, moving with the stream of bodies he caught several elbows in the stomach but the adrenaline in his system denied him the pain. Once he reached the street though he kept on moving. Onlookers paid no attention to the single kid walking calmly down the street when a mob had formed a few yards from him and their sounds could be heard around the block. By the way, Gregor was skilled in the art of not being noticed.

He had to get out, not just out of the school, out of New York City. He didn't belong here, in fact he didn't belong anywhere, not in this world at least. The overland was over, he can't be known as Gregor here no longer, the only place that will ever truly know and accept Gregor for who he is is the Underland, and that was exactly where he was headed.


	2. Returning home

Chapter 2

He had two choices, the portal at central park or the long and dark fall from his apartments laundry room, neither of which seemed like a reasonable entrance, especially for an unannounced entrance. The adrenaline was still pumping through Gregors veins as he walked through the slushy streets, he needed a place to calm down, a place to get his wits together and develop a plan. Not home, dad should be home for lunch hour and Gregor was sure that he had already been contacted for his behavior at school today.

Gregor entered a nearby convenience store to use whatever little lunch money he had to purchase a single LED flashlight and lighter, since his plans of travel were somewhere dark. After checking out an idea stopped him in his tracks, "this has been prophesized" Gregor whispered under his breath. No travel to the underland ever goes un-prophesized either the underland needs him or he needs the underland, the two will meet in the very near future.

_"And the warrior has been killed" _verses of the previous prophecies echoed through his mind but quickly disrupted by the passing sirens of emergency vehicles. Gregor quickly flipped up the hood of his black sweatshirt and calmly began walking down the street even though every nerve in his body was tuned for a fight and defense. He heard the siren of a cop car come to stop and the vehicle park where he was previously standing at the entrance to the convenience store. Every instinct in his body told him not to look back, don't turn around, your just passing by, keep…on…walking… Yet Gregor took a quick look behind him only to make direct eye contact with the girl at the cafeteria, the one he had in his hands and should've knocked cold when he could have.

Gregor began to run.

Immediately following he heard sirens turn back on and the skid of tires on the slick November streets in pursuit so Gregor immediately took to a nearby alley. He thought of Lizzie and Marge, especially his mother Grace and how torn they'd all be when they learn he has left so unannounced. They'll understand, they knew this was coming anyways, too long has he woken up in cold sweats and been hiding his history from the world. At least now he was going a place where people knew who and why he was the way he was. The sirens became nearly nonexistent compared to the roar of cars on the street. He stopped his run as soon as he hit central park, taking a note of every person he passed and their interest in him, all of which were pretty non-interested to Gregor's advantage.

Then he saw the stone, the tablet that would let him escape reality to dreamworld; or dreamworld to reality he thought due to past experiences. His legs stiffened as he approached the rock which held back so many memories. In fact, he would probably cry if he had the tears to do so. The rock was frozen in place but no amount of ice was going to separate Gregor from the end of his nightmares, so thus used the butt of his flashlight to chip at the ice around to get in.

He landed in the dark tunnel in a battle ready stance, ready to confront any danger that opposed him but he was alone finally. He took off his backpack to look for his flashlight but when a puff of dust meandered into Gregors lungs it brought on a bout of coughing and his world was lit up in his head. Every cough painted a picture perfect portrait in his head of the tunnel: every brick that built the walls, every rock and pebble that made up the ground, and the long, long abyss the tunnel led to. Gregor began walking making a click every dozen seconds to make sure not to walk into the wall, he knew no flyer would know he would be here to pick him up, he even wondered if anyone would recognize him three and a half years later.

He noticed something ahead, a rock? No, something bigger, he put his back to the wall and approached the mass slowly now clicking his tongue several times a second in case of sudden movements. Too small to be a gnawer but could still be dangerous none the less. Then the smell hit him. Whatever it was, it was decomposing. At closer look, it had a segmented body, crawler? No, it was a cutter. But how?

Something wasn't right and it set Gregor on edge, he began running through the tunnels now with a sense of urgency but was caught off guard when his footing disappeared and he began falling. The tunnel couldn't go forever, and he knew the tunnel ended in the waterway so he braced himself for a hard and wet landing. Yet his fall was neither hard, nor was it wet, much like his first experience with boots, he was merely floating to the ground, as if he were sinking in water. Yet it was much shorter than his first experience and sooner rather than later his feet found a hard wooden floor illuminated by shiners.

Gregor took a look around and for the second time today, found a group of people staring at him dumbly, jaws nearly dropped at just what had happened before their eyes.

"What do you mean he just floated down from the sky?" A confused voice came from behind a door. With a ferocious swing open a mean appeared at the door, sword wielded and eyebrows creased in focus.

Gregor couldn't believe his eyes.

"Gregor?" Said Mareth just as confused, now sheathing his massive sword, "I thought I'd…." Mareth cut short out of shear disbelief

"Well…" Gregor started out in the awkward silence, "What are you doing on here on a boat like this?"

"My god she's right!" Mareth started now tromping heavily towards Gregor, taking him off his feet in a famous Mareth bear hug. "Come in, come in, we've got so much to catch up on! Men, set sail back to Regalia!" Mareth herded Gregor back to the captain's quarters as he felt the floor tilt and shift as the crew re-directed the ship back to Regalia.

Gregor took a seat at the captains desk, "So much wood!" He thought to himself. Then Gregor chirped in as Mareth excitedly pranced around the cabin, "Mareth, how did you come by all this wood in order to make a ship?" Gregor finally asked.

"Not very easily" Mareth replied, "The underlands supply of this stuff is very limited indeed" He said while tapping the smooth wooden walls, "Yet it is here nonetheless. But enough with the small talk. How? Why? You wouldn't believe your eyes once you get back to Regalia, it is simply spectacular!" Mareth chirped in a jubilant state, never once a smile leaving his lips. "But really, it is amazing you are here at the moment, Nerissa approached me at dinner a few days ago with her eyes misted over and said in an unreal voice 'the fishing is good this week'"Mareth imitated Nerissas voice in a raspy state, "Then she just sat back down, can you believe that! And now you're here! It nearly cost me an arm and a leg to even get this guy rented, Luxa was very insistent on my not going."

"Luxa?" Gregor croaked out. His queen, his love, all the old emotions hitting him again. "How is her queenship doing?" He stated now controlling his voice but with a twinge of weakness in his statement.

"Great last time I was at the city but who knows, a lot can happen in a week. You must be exhausted after all this travel and new news. Have some fish and sleep, I'm going to be working the outside shift now but just holler if you need anything." Mareth said as he handed a plate of raw fish to Gregor, the same stuff he ate how many years ago? His second expedition in the Underland seemed like an entire another life. The entire underland seemed like another life ago to but here he was.

Gregor layed down on the cabin bed, too excited to fall asleep yet a disturbing thought lullabied him into a trance. "What was a cutter doing out of the jungle," was his last thought of the day. Or of the night, he could never tell one from the other down here.

Gregor then awoke to an eerie feeling, then he realized he wasn't moving anymore, the ship had boarded land. But why hadn't he been awakened? Leaving the cabin Gregor found the entire ship desolate. In fact, the ship hadn't boarded land at all. Gregor vaulted over the side of the ship to land in a dusty shockwave that settled in a perfect perimeter around him, then walked a few steps to place his hand on the Arch of Tantalus. He looked at where he once remembered where the jungle used to be but instead his eyes only fell on the decaying rot of blackened vines and ill shrubbery. Gregor took a few steps into the jungle, his adidas sneakers trampling and destroying the shriveled vegetation that he remember to grow dozens of feet tall. A few steps more and his foot collided with the first object that hasn't broken under his light footfall, but saw nothing to prove this anomaly. Crouching down and brushing off some black and decaying leaves, his hand touched the smooth thing his foot collided with. Then it moved and Gregors eyes connected with the cutters, Its mandibles barely moving as if to speak its dying words. After staring at the fatal creature for several minutes, Gregor realized it wasn't moving anymore, and a light shake brought no more movement from this now clearly dead cutter. So wasting no more time he stood up and glanced back at the arch, the skulls and bones that were once slain by the creations of the jungle now stands towering above the defeated jungle. A single human skull stood noticeably prominent on the right post, about shoulder height to Gregor. It was a particularly bleached white skull. It jutted out further from any other bone on the post, and only had a handful of teeth in its black mouth. Yet every tooth pronounced the skulls harkening grin, the laughing skull enjoying every moment the jungle lies defeated with a sweet vengeance. Gregor felt his heartbeat spike and his feet take control of themselves. He didn't mind, he knew what his body was about to do and was perfectly fine with it. Approaching the arch now at a running pace, never once blinking as if the skull would move he cocks back his arm to strike the skull.

Gregor woke up finding himself lying on the floor of the again rocking ship, his hand pained, and found the arm he meant to punch the skull with elbow deep in the floorboards. He sat back up on the bed, and felt the melodious rock of the ship to verify that he was still on water sooth his beating heart. He wanted to draw but had neither paper nor pencil, so he sat with his face in his arms using his mind to regain control of his body.

There was a knock at the door and after a pregnant pause Mareth poked his head into the cabin, "We'll be in regalia within the hour. Are you all right?" He said once he noticed the hole in the floor.

Gregor just nodded and sat with his back to the wall hoping Mareth wouldn't notice the beads of sweat forming on his face. Gregor closed his eyes while regaining his wits, but tore them open again as to not fall asleep again. His dream was on replay in his mind: The dying jungle, the dying cutter, and the ecstatic skull laughing at Gregor. Gregor resorted back to his last method he used when he went out on the waterway to keep his mind, running through his multiplication tables. "Thirteen times two, three, four, five…" Then sooner rather than later, it couldn't have of been an hour, Gregor heard the yell of new mens voices besides those of the men on the ship and the familiar bump and reluctance of landing on shore.

Leaving the cabin Gregor saw the most beautiful thing in the world. The stone city of regalia stood lit up. Contrasting against the dark rock walls and ceiling jutted out pillars and towers standing within protective walls dozens of feet off of the sandy floor. Even a small town bustling town stood at the foot of the city but a constant ferry of bats brought people to and from the city to the great caverns floor. "Its definitely grown" Gregor thought remembering the last time he stood at the top of the city's walls, remembering the feeling of how puny they were against the hordes of gnawers scratching and assaults on the fortress.

Some voices abruptly brought Gregor back to reality, "Just in time Mareth, Luxa and the the council will be making some sort of speech today, not sure on what but it's going to be huge." A dock hand said to Mareth, who then shot a glance back to Gregor. "Luxa making a speech." Mareth restated, entering the boats cabin to return with some new underland clothes, "I hope you remember how to ride a bat."

Gregor couldn't help but to smile.


	3. A friendly welcoming

Chapter 3

Three and a half years Gregor had been deprived of the beauty and euphoria of flying. In his year spent down in the underland before not only had he learned to love flying, but to live by flying. It's how humans live here; it's how he should live but just not reasonable in the overland. He'd rather live without his left arm then live the rest of his life a slave to gravity, a magnet to earth, unable to cease the potential of the skies. But now he had reconnected to life again, and had no other wish than to live in the moment, and for the time to put his life in the hands of another creature.

Gregor ran his hands through the deep brown fur which tinted red in the light of a bat whose name was Cerberus. He also had a pale stripe which ran from his nose, down his backside to his tail with some blonder patches spotting his wings. But what Gregor loved most about this bat was the soft purr it emitted when it flew, the vibrations in his hand and reverberations through his chest when he hugged the back of the bat reminded him of New York and the relaxing hum from the engine of the car on the late nights his mother spent driving Gregor and his family back home. He really could live like this forever and always, but Regalia was approaching and soon enough he'd have to separate from the beautiful beast that he took pleasure in.

"I say, you really do look familiar, have we ever met?" Gregor lied. He really has never seen the bat before but was looking for an excuse to start a conversation with the quiet bat and learn why he was riderless.

"He He He…" Gregor hugged the trunk of the bat even more to feel the sweet vibrations from the bats voice, "I take honor in having the great warrior recollecting me. Me and my bond followed you to the battle on the Plain of Tartarus, It really was an honor to have been led by the savior of the underland in such a decisive battle. You fight well, although many were loss…" Cerberus choked up on the last word, not quite able to pronounce the last t. It was obvious he had lost his bond, and not only lost his bond but lost him in a battle that Gregor led him to.

"I'm sorry, I really am. Maybe if I would've defeated the Bane sooner I could've doubled back to help you guys in the real fight and could've changed the whole outcome!" Gregor tried to take on the blame and reason for his loss but Cerberus was too star struck at the glory of carrying the warrior.

"No, no, no. I couldn't have of asked more from you. Regalia, the entire underland couldn't have of begged or even fathomed of asking for a greater response from you. My bond, Vincent, was a good bond. We knew the time was coming where a decisive battle had to be made, and although the loss was great, we wouldn't choose any other scenario if we had to. Vincent even painted his armor black like yours, he was inspired and wouldn't have of felt more comfortable under any other leadership than your own."

Gregor imagined the grief the gorgeous bat was living through, not only the pain but the outcast status one goes through being bondless. Gregor could at least escape to the overland where the idea of being bonded to an animal was cast out as an absurdity, but down here it is life, and when one life is lost, two lives are ultimately impacted.

The flight was short, but the heavy conversation made the destination never come soon enough. Cerberus graciously landed on a busy pad just short of the top of the citys walls. Gregor dismounted the bat and turned to face it, he held out a paw which Gregor then shook.

"Fly you high Gregor the Warrior"

"And fly you high, Cerberus the warrior's chauffeur" Gregor said with a sly smile which brought on another bout of soft and hearty laughter from the lumbering creature.

Gregor then turned to face a street of the city. People rushed by on either side, grazing his arms but always apologizing for the inconvenience. The city seemed so much more alive than he's ever seen before, vendors pushing sales into the street and people bartering over exotic fish only found in the waterway. One more thing that amazed Gregor was the diversity of creatures in the city, for only every other creature on the street was human. Gnawers prowled the street without people paying second thought to them while many crawlers and spinners manned booths of their own, Spinners selling their fine and valued clothes while Crawlers seemed to have a market in crafts and literature. The interaction amongst one another didn't seem to faze any creature one bit. He even saw humans clicking their tongues to speak with some crawlers and the occasional hiss even though he didn't see any hissers.

Gregor walked the streets for a good half hour tranquilized at the progress of the city: the diversity of creatures, advances in technology, but mostly the expansion and elaborate stone work of the entire city. After meandering through street to street to street in this paranormal state, he was brought back to reality when he realized it was only he and a dozen more people on the street. They all seemed to be hurried to, jogging towards the center of the city as if they had to meet a deadline. And from Gregor's adept skills at going unnoticed, he followed as to not be left the odd one out. After following a couple for a few blocks, then three crawlers who moved very intently for a few blocks, he realized they were traveling deeper and deeper into the city, now to common ground and nearly below the high hall where royalty of the city lived.

Rounding a corner he came to a block which was alive with people. He saw creatures of all races there: nibblers and spinners, gnawers and hissers, crawlers and what appeared to be lobsters? Gregor was unsure what to call them other than snappers cause of the claws they had. Everyone was at unease; a horrendous chatter filled his ears, the white noise of nearly thousands of creatures jammed into an area made only to hold hundreds. Then something caught Gregors eye, carved against the seemingly endless vertical stone wall was a statue nearly a hundred feet tall, almost rivaling the height of the high hall stood a figure who knelt on one knee. His head tilted to obscure his face, but his helmet was lopsided to show his distress. A hundred ton elbow was perched on his bent knee to support his forehead with the backside of his hand. In both of his hands he held two pieces of one sword. The statue was him.

They had it all wrong, his arms were way too big and the scandalous armor really glorified who he really is. Gregor looked down at his feet and scanned his body to his arms to compare with that of the statue. What they had chiseled into the wall was that of a well chiseled man, they really must take this warrior stuff seriously.

Then to break his attention from the background the loud chatter grew even louder into a momentous roar, an encore cheering on the two figures that stood on a pedestal to overlook the entire plaza they were gathered in. Being so high up Gregor could only pick out that it was a man and a woman, obviously Vikus and Luxa, but behind the pedestal barely recognizable stood Stellovet, arms crossed with a sour look on her face as usual. The taller of the two, Vikus, stood forward first to approach this funnel like contraption.

Then he spoke, "Long live the glory of Regalia!" Vikus's voice boomed around Gregor. He saw the contraption he was speaking into was sort of an amplifier; pipes ran from the funnel he spoke into to larger horns which surrounded the plaza, sort of like wires attached to speakers from a microphone. The crowd was going crazy, not a single mouth in the plaza wasn't shut or arms thrusted in the air.

From hundreds of feet below and nestled against the stonework of a house Gregor could spy the toothy ear-to-ear grin that stretched across Vikus's face, "They say, a city is only as good as the people its composed of. In that case, I'm proud to have the Underland's finest present before me today." Vikus then backed away from the stage leaving every nibbler, human, and gnawer in the crowd crazy in self-glory. Then Luxa approached the stage. Even though the crowd was still ecstatic at the moment, Gregors discomfort was flushed away by the distraction of the most beautiful thing in the world. Three and a half years have been nice to Luxa, she had grown even taller yet, probably taller than Gregor, and had a regal aura pronounced by the elaborate crown precariously perched on her blonde head with streams of silver hair running over her shoulders. Gregor noticed one thing from her eyes, she looked distraught and full of anguish. She was at unease, transferring her weight from one foot to the other while the crowd's full attention was set on her.

"My great people," She said a little more bluntly then Vikus's elaborate intro, "We have a great decision upon us. My bond Ripred, leader of the gnawers, sent an urgent message received by us this morning."

Gregor sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. How could he be so stupid! Never has he ever returned to a peaceful Underland. The next sentence of Luxa's was imminent. This was no community rally, this was a declaration of war Gregor thought to himself. Raising his head, every gnawer was mesmerized by Luxa, every ear had been turned and twitched curiously at what Luxa would say next.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Luxa's voice derailed Gregor's train of thought as his attention was brought back to the pedestal she stood high up on, "We are not going to war." A common sigh of relief was all let out at once as chatter amongst the plaza spread like wildfire and loved ones were hugged. "Although the message received this morning was dire nonetheless, and I wish you all to know the status of the Underland. Three colonies of cutters movements were tracked across the Deadlands yesterday evening. When intersected, they were hostile yet stated they wish to travel in peace and meant Regalia and the Fount no harm. What I want to leave you all today with is that we may very well be bystanders in another war and I promise any species out there that Regalia stands as a haven. Please stay aware of further gatherings in interest of the status of the Underland." On that note, Luxa pivoted for a quick 180 spin and walked off the tall pedestal to disappear from sight. More anxious talk broke through the crowd but the population left abruptly as if a crime had been committed and nobody wanted to be seen as a witness. In a matter of minutes, the plaza had filtered out until only four or five people remained, all of which were city workers from their spinner spun uniforms they wore.

Gregor stood up from his seat and began to walk across the space towards the monument of himself. The ground which was covered with so many people he now noticed could be considered a monument itself. The rough ground was composed of different colored rocks, spelling out words. Too vast to spell out from the ground but from where Luxa stood he could only imagine what it spelt out. He glanced back up at the podium, probably just from the thought of Luxa, but locked eyes with Stellovet. Arms still crossed, she studied him, trying to figure out who he was and why he was there. But Gregor just kept on walking on to the statue as if he didn't pay her a second thought.

He put his hand on the cold stone and looked up at the vast project before him. It really was accurate, even had identical scars which he had to make sure were real on himself. Then Gregor was hungry. Had it only been just a few hours he's been in the Underland? Difficult to tell with no astral patterns but he lost track when he fell asleep on the boat. From the gnawing hunger in his stomach, he guesstimated the time being dinner and headed back to the streets to find a meal.

It was simple why he didn't want to introduce himself to the palace and council. He was scared: scared of what they would do with him, scared of what they would prophesize of him, and scared of how they'd use him. He'd present himself to them whenever he felt comfortable. But until then, he'd have to get on by himself, a lost boy in a big world. First thing he noticed that even though it was the evening, the city was darker. Half the lamps that illuminated the busy street days are off probably to conserve whatever precious fuels they have, while the other lights are dimmed. Streets he once had trouble walking without disturbing anothers path were desolate only to be met by the local drunkard on his way home.

Next thing Gregor knew was he was on his back, his feet lashed out before him and dragged from the dim scene he was in to nearly pitch blackness. When Gregor came to again from the shock seconds later, he felt the strong bind release from his feet as the all too familiar feel of a gnawers tail dragged over him. Immediately breaking his attention from that was the swift kick of a foot to the stomach and the intoxicated laughter at Gregors pain. Gregor doubled over on his hands and knees gasping for air that wasn't coming to him when a blow to his back layed him back flat on the ground. He felt his body being ran up all over, pressing every ridge on him as hands fall on a bulge sticking out of his pocket and laughter befell all the crooks.

"Looks like we got us a winner here." Said a raspy voice from behind.

"Oh shut up Rawtooth," A voice replied to Gregors left to the other voices comment, "I say not even worth the sore toes, he just has some sort of strange thing here." The human beside Gregor examined the flashlight.

Gregor just had to focus. He closed his eyes and let his heavy breathing echolocate the scene around him. All the other noise created a disturbance for the clarity of the picture in his head but he could still determine a rough outline of the narrow alley they were in. It could hardly fit two gnawers abreast between the stone walls, but there was only one gnawer and two humans who luckily at the time were preoccupied by the flashlight they had just stolen. Gregor played weak, getting on shaky hands and knees and shuffling down the alley.

"Hey, he's getting away!" One of the humans said, then Gregor could see a figure approach from behind. Gregor was now crawling against the wall, hoping he wouldn't catch his fake in the dark. Seeing the other man bring his leg back ready to kick, Gregor dropped on his stomach fast, having the man kick the wall which he was reassured of as a howl of pain was set off. Gregor then quickly took out the other leg the man was hopping on bringing him down to the same level as Gregor as he landed a hard elbow to the temple. The robber lay there motionless, "hopefully only knocked out." Gregor thought but really had no time to check.

A moment of silence befell on the scene, allowing Gregor to get a more accurate idea of his surroundings. The two other criminals stood about fifteen feet away with a dumbstruck look on their faces. rager blood coursed through his veins as a smile etched itself across his face, these guys really don't know who they are robbing from do they? The gnawer pushed the next human forward with his tail, "Quick you twerp! Get him while he's disoriented!" The human really had no idea what to do, just a kid stumbling in the dark and fighting shadows. Gregor grabbed a dagger from the belt of the previous robber who attacked him and stood up just in time to see a punch coming, which he dodged then pinned his arm against the wall. With the other man's arm out, Gregor punched him once in the face then swung his fist horizontally to club the man across the temple with the butt of the dagger, letting the man slump over the first body. Now Gregors rager senses were really activated and his senses were on edge: he could smell the rats breath, see the periodic sway of the rats tail, and hear the calm inhale and exhale of a battle-hardened warrior.

"He he he, my oh my do we ever have a fighter here. You see, I was taking these two bimbos out on their first job! What a way to introduce them to the business then leave them bloodied and bruised in an alley in the morning." The rat began to approach, now dropping to four legs he brought his tail high and over his own head, swaying like a scorpions. Gregor began breaking the thought-process of the gnawer down. He walked with a limp in his leg, probably a reason to not use it and rely on his tail and teeth. Also this _rat _wasn't going to take no for an answer, he wasn't just going to slump on the alley way and let Gregor go. No, this rat was playing for blood.

"You see, I've killed people like you. I've had bodies of you humans slain by my own hand then piled up and burned. In fact, I'll fight to have the change the name gnawer with killer, because you humans can't kill to save your life…"

Gregor never said a word but made the first move catching the gnawer off guard. He fell upon the rat with a hard fist on the nose but in a quick comeback, received a paw to the chest, flinging him back to the wall. Gregor stood back unfazed, the gnawer was now pouting over his nose but still dangerous, that's when a quick tail came sweeping across the ground. Gregor jumped seeing this move coming but a quick flick into the air caught his feet and brought him back to the ground. In a fraction of a second the gnawer was on top of him, his nose bleeding and mouth snarling. For a second Gregor thought the rat had pearly white fur and had a quick flashback to the moment he had fought the Bane. A sudden swell of anger brought the dagger in his hand up into the Gnawers skull. Gregor could see the metal through the gaping gnawer's mouth and how it ran up into his head. He pushed the limp brown mass aside and sat against the wall to regain his bearings. He felt not only the adrenaline leave him but the rager feeling as his senses became duller and duller. Now opening his eyes he could only make out shadows of the bodies strewn on the alley way. Voices were coming and Gregor froze where he sat. Two laughing silhouettes appeared at the entrance to the alley way were Gregor was snatched, but walked on just as calmly as they approached.

Gregor had to leave. He buried the gnawer's body under a nearby pile of trash and sat the two unconscious humans leaning against the wall nearby. Gregor was about to walk away when something stopped him in his tracks. He spun a 180 and shuffled through one of the bodies' pockets until he found a small flashlight which he put back into his pocket. In the man's pocket he also heard the clanking of something else. When he pulled it out, it looked like a few coins he had, all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Gregor pocketed those to.

Back on the street, Gregor put his hands in his pockets and walked calmly in the dim light, especially weary whenever he passed an alley way. One buildings lights illuminated the street and had a very lively sound of music and laughter coming from it. Then a pang of hunger rung in Gregors stomach reminding him of the reason why he was on the street in the first place, so he walked in.

The place was bustling with people, making it quite easy for Gregor to blend in. His first approach was the long bar. He still hadn't figured out what exactly he had entered but by overland standards, it was sort of a bar, restaurant, café, with musicians playing and families eating while workers drank their night away. A woman approached brightly dressed, "Evenin' sir." She said in a new accent. Gregor just nodded. "Ye here for the show or for some grub" She said to which Gregor replied, "Yes, I'd just like some food please, whatever is cheap." The waiter turned around and whistled a short three note tune to which another waiter arrived with a platter of small bowls. The first woman removed a bowl and placed it before Gregor, "That'll be five groots." Groot? He thought, what the hell is a groot? Trying to look like a regular, Gregor just pulled a handful of the coins he pilfered from the crook and laid them on the table, to which the waiter chose a small green coin. Gregor plucked an even smaller coin and placed it in her hand to. The waitress smiled and walked away. Gregor wasn't really sure of what he was about to eat, it smelled of fish but he wasn't sure of which kind but he didn't care, he was starving and that's all that mattered. He took a bite of the chunky soupy mixture and wasn't quite sure of what to think. The fish was alright but the salt was overwhelming and really didn't consist of any other flavors or spices.

While Gregor was preoccupied a crawler sat down next to him and clicked a few times, Gregor glanced over and shook his head with probably soup dripping from his mouth. The crawler then said with an impeccable voice, "How you do, I am Len." He stuck out an antennae. Gregor shook his antennae gently, "Nice to meet you len, I'm Gre…. Larry" Gregor caught himself midsentence nearly giving away his overland status. Everyone probably knows who Gregor is, he has a freakin monument dedicated to himself!"

"Lurry?" The crawler played with the word in his small mouth, "Interesting name, I'm going to write about you Lurry, I am a writer. Write very well to, best writer in the Underland." The creature beamed huffing out his chest if he could. "Interesting scratches, where did you get them?" Gregor felt a light touch on his arm. He glanced down himself and saw pink lines nearly healed already from where he had been beat up and Rawtooth took a swing at him. There was still even fresh blood stains from the scratch, but it looks as if the scratch had been healing for weeks.

"Well nice to meet you Len." Gregor said after scraping whatever was remaining of his soup then abruptly leaving the tavern. Sleepiness had hit him like a freight train, and it was all he could do to make it outside. He made his way to the alley right by the building he ate in, and sat with his back to the wall. Before Gregor shut his eyes for the night he checked his surroundings, and there was only one other person in the alley but they were already passed out down the way. Gregor shut his eyes with a grin on his face, his first day back to the Underland. He thought of Luxa, the most incredibly beautiful woman in the world, how much older and competent she looked at the speech today. He imagined her in the palace, high up under soft spinner sheets with guards posted at every door. He thought of what he was going to do the next day but didn't get a second thought in because he was already asleep, lost in his own mind.

Even though he fell asleep in a soothing night, Gregor awoke to a pretty unsoothing sound in the morning. Gregor stood up to a strange siren. Above him was another horn with a tube running along the building, something he hadn't noticed in the darkness of night the evening prior. Looking down the street citizens were rushing, nearly running back to the plaza center but when Gregor looked up, he heard the silent swoosh of bats wings fly in the other direction. Running to the street, Gregor brushed the dirt off his clothes from the mishap the night before. He ran against everyone else, to the city walls. He had to get to the pad where Cerberus had left dropped him off.

When he got there, people were in a mad frenzy. Bats by the dozen were evacuating people from the town at the cavern floor to behind the protective walls of the city. Without second thought or even breaking pace, Gregor pushed through the crowd and leaped into the air, hundreds of feet from the ground and began falling. The enjoyment of feeling free and saved in the air was short lived when a creeping thought crept into his mind. "What if he doesn't come" Gregor thought as he approached the ground rapidly. When just a second or so from impact, he felt the warm furry jolt he had hoped would come and a not so soft purr.

"Do you really want to die overlander!" Said Cerberus angrily, flying a little clunkier than usual. When Gregor looked behind him, three other members of a family were also riding on his back, to which we dropped them back off at the city to be picked up by another bat.

"For a second there I thought you weren't going to make it" Gregor laughed at the bat.

"For a second there I thought I wasn't going to make it," Cerberus wittily replied, "Where to now warrior?"

Gregor looked up and saw a fleet of bats flying high, nearly invisible on the black of the ceiling, "Up there," Gregor pointed, "Follow those bats!"


	4. Old Acquaintances

A/N Sorry for the delay on this chapter! With school starting and all, life has been a little hectic. Chapters will still be rolling in but a little more slowly now. Id really love some reviews on my characterization, im not sure if im hitting the right flow for some people

First thing Gregor noticed was that Cerberus wasn't a newbie to flying nor flying with a rider. In fact, Gregor felt stressed to counter-place himself on the bat so he wouldn't fall off during Cerberus's technical maneuvers between the stalactites which hung from the ceiling. It was classic underland stalking technique, and a tactic which humans have mastered and in a sense, thought of themselves invincible to. The human party which they were tailing, a group of bonds numbering two dozen or so, flew less than fifty feet below him, within hands reach of the stalactites which nearly scraped their heads. Humans on their flyers have grown ignorant of danger lurking from above, and hence never pay second glance to the non-existent dangers that could exist above them.

Yet this scouting party took no risks, making Gregor, who in order to claim the highground, left to dodge amongst a minefield of stalactites. Projections of rock threatened the duos flightpath hundreds of times a minute. Cerberus's skill and profession never ceased to amaze Gregor, skillfully executing maneuvers Gregor and Ares slaved hours over; maneuvers practiced so much the two could execute with their eyes closed and their ever so tight bond intuition. Gregor felt a calm connection with this bat, a similar language spoken by body and mind, predictive skills and psychological sharing that could only be described by a single word – a _bond_.

Gregors focus in the hurdle infested air was distracted when at second glance he noticed the group they were following wasn't there anymore, but Cerberus had already caught on and in a single swift save perched themselves on a stalactite, claws scraping and sliding to eventually get a grip on the limestone rock. Gregor was about to mention something to Cerberus when a wing pointed to a cluster of bats and humans still ahead and below them, each bat with claws grasping the narrow points of rock and their bonds standing on their wings with hands clenching the bats neck to stay vertical at the awkward angle. Gregor held his breath for a minute straight as his target of his espionage stood petrified below him, but as he saw them begin to interact with one another he let his pent up breath slowly out through his nostrils.

Three humans in particular seemed to be discussing something while the others formed a perimeter around them. The humans and their bats were crouched over a large square sheet of white paper, probably a map Gregor thought to himself. When one of them turned to talk to another nearby rider, a silver flash caught Gregors eye. A long glistening mane of silver hair shined in the dim and desolate ceiling of the Underland. Luxa? Gregor thought to himself, tediously trying to remember back to the evening before when he saw the light to his world speech to the masses.

Suddenly to bring Gregor back from his lovely fantasies the two dozen riders and their bonds peeled off of the hanging rocks and plummeted to the Underland surface, quickly disappearing in the thick Underland haze.

"What do we do!" And urgent whisper came from Cerberus. Gregor was dumbstruck for a second but calmly said "Follow them" as he felt weightlessness take over him.

It was a long ways down, an endless abyss it appeared from the ceiling of the Underland. Terminal Velocity was quickly reached giving Gregor and Cerberus a mere few seconds of sight in the dusty and smoky Underland haze. Gregor quickly transferred over to echolocation, but the slow speed of sound only reached his ears with a delay, still fast enough to make the distinguishable dots of their target priority. Seconds after focusing on the dots ahead of him he noticed half of the pack peel off to the side in all directions.

"You see that!" Gregor screamed in the ear of Cerberus to be heard of the roar of wind in his sensitive ears. Gregor couldn't hear the response of the quiet bat who in his loudest stage, emits nothing more than a soft purr but he took it for an acknowledgement to the deviation ahead.

The quicker echo of Gregors high-pitched ticks signified the ground quickly approaching but Cerberus was way ahead of him pulling up still above and out of sight of those below.

Gregor motioned to the ground to land behind of the slow moving pack of bats now numbering in only a dozen now. The ground seemed relatively flat and rocky, the soil from above appeared a leathery black and very smooth. Yet when the claws of Cerberus landed, a satisfying crunch was to be heard as his feet penetrated a foot deep until solid ground was reached. Gregor launched off the bat to a similar sound and the feel of his own feet falling knee high in black muck. Crouching down he plucked what appeared to be a black rope from the ground, but the integrity of the decaying vine he touched couldn't hold itself and crumbled as he picked it up.

"We aren't…. in the jungle are we?" A soft purr asked from behind Gregor.

Gregor didn't say anything, he didn't need to say anything because everything around him said it all. Gregor crouched on his heels with his elbows propped on his knees and his face buried in his palms; reliving everything that had been in his dreamed flash through his head again, he had been here before. The picture of the dying cutter obscured by the decaying shrubbery flashed into his mind again, the ringing of Luxas voice in his ears, the cutters really are on the move.

A crunch and a thump landed before Gregor, close enough to feel the wind blow off of his fall and breeze over his head. Gregor didn't move an inch, still sorting through his own thoughts and testing his sanity before he tried to comprehend the insanity going on around him. Eleven more consecutive thumps around him seemed to be enough to break him out of his mental trance; still crouched Gregor peeled his fingers off his face to bend his head up to see what had fallen before him. His eyes tracing up dark brown yet thick and filled furry legs, further up attached to the torso of an armor clad bat stood before him with a man towering over the side of the bat, only two violet circles visible through the narrow slits of his helmet. He had his elbow resting on the hilt of his sword with disapproving eyes measuring Gregor as if to see how much of a threat he posed to himself. And judging from the body gesture the man slouched at, he really must've underestimated Gregor. Gregor felt the prod of a flashlight in his side, then imagined himself fending off twelve armed and dangerous Underlanders wielding swords with nothing but a flashlight. The absurd thought etched a smile across Gregors face.

A voice above seeked everyone's attention, "Who goes there!" The familiar tone demanded from above.

"Nothing my lady" The man before him called back, "Just a _boy_ and his bat." The man stared back with icy eyes. "What should we do? Nobody should know of our position. Should we kill him?" Another man inquired from somewhere behind Gregor, and at the phrase "kill him" all soldiers around him drew their swords simultaneously other than the one who sat before him.

"Not yet," The voice above was now heard from behind the man who looked at Gregor with such disdain, and the crunching foot falls approached. The figure with silver blossoming out of the rim of her helmet and flowed over her breastplate walked around the bat to take a look at Gregor. His heartbeat must have of doubled if not tripled in rate because Gregor found himself standing up to face his long lost friend and his acute senses picking up on every soldier taking a step closer in preparation to kill if aggressive action was taken. Luxa stood for a solid minute, measuring Gregor up and down, face unnoticeable shielded behind cold metal. She then made a small motion with her hands to lower the guard of the surrounding guards who took a step back, but each one of them wielded their weapon with prone hands.

She took a slow step forward, Gregors heart beating so fast it seemed like it took an eternity to close the three foot gap to face him closely. A lightning fast fist with force only a trained warrior can achieve caught Gregor in the stomach just short of the ribcage, capable of denying him his morning meal if he had any. In a grunt Gregor keeled over Luxa's shoulder as she held him close with a fist still buried in his abdomen, close enough she could whisper in Gregors ear so only Gregor can hear it which was hard enough since he was mesmerized in the savory essence of her luscious hair.

"Three. And a half. Years" Luxa punctuated each word in Gregors ear, "No message, no word, no visits, for three. And a half. Years. Welcome back… _Gregor" _Each word stung like a butterflys wing in the face. Her breath burned in Gregors ears like sweet honey and the pain she inflicted on him could be comparable to the happiest bouts of laughter. Gregor knew he deserved everything she did to him, and actually was surprised her first impulse wasn't a dagger to the neck. The worst part being when she started to back away the pain began to grasp his body but her sweet voice coaxed his discomfort like a loving mother's care, "James, lash him to Aurora and make sure he is bound good. Shackle the bat to Hemera to and they will follow us." Gregor couldn't be happier.

Capable hands hefted Gregor up who was crippled by the blow Luxa dealt, yet giddy in the excitement to see his reason of life once again. Both hands and feet were bound with half-inch cord until blood was nearly restricted to his extremities, then the cord tied taught around the belly of Aurora with Gregor draped over her rump. The man who bound him, James as Luxa addressed him by, almost went out of his way to strap Gregor in the most uncomfortable position conceived then kneelt to Gregors height, his face nearly an inch from Gregors, "Listen, _Warrior_" He spat venomously, "Times have changed from your glory days. You, son of the sun, savior to the Underland, you had it all!" He then laughed a little before continuing, "Vikus, the ol' crippled bastard, he adores you. Even had a monument built in your remembrance. I hear songs sung every day on the streets of Regalia, man you really had it all… but then you left?" He took a quick glance around to make sure no one had caught onto the two's secret meeting, "You see, you really broke a lot of hearts when you left and, I'm no surgeon but I sure know how to put the pieces back together." He glanced back at Luxa, making sure Gregor knew exactly what he was talking about. "Take a look at the queen to be in nearly a month, and now take a look at the king to be in nearly a month." Gregor, bound at the angle he was, couldn't get a full look at James's face but he imagined it was adorned in every mocking expression possible.

"All ready for flight?" Luxa spoke out to the crowd who were now all mounted on their flyers, but stared at Gregor and James.

"Yes my lady, just taking the extra moment to ensure his restrictments are legitimate." He replied with an ever so cunning reply.

"Good, now let's fly high, this place sickens me." She said as Aurora took flight. The entire squad of flyers took off in close escort, within a few seconds if need be to make contact with Luxa. As they took off Gregor took a look at the desolate remains of the jungle, black and brown as far as the Underland haze permitted Gregor to see. Then only after a minute of flying did Gregor see the small white arch of Tantalus standing out in the uninhabited wasteland, the last site of Gregors dream. After that it was hours of rocky and rolling land, boring and seemingly never-ending.

"I saw your speech the other day." Gregor spoke out to distract his mind from his pale hands from the lack of blood and sore belly and arms. He looked at the regal sitting figure before him, hair dancing in the wind and body silhouetted by finely worked metal. She was unresponsive to his statement but Gregor carried on just for the hell of it, "Regalia really has improved recently!" No reply. "I had a fight last night, left a gnawer dead in an alleyway when he tried to rob me." Still no reply. "I had a dream about a cutter in the jungle the other night, before I even reached Regalia." With this, a head turn was all the reaction he received, but only for a second before she petrified herself again facing forward. He was getting closer, "What about this James guy, he seems pretty nice ya think?" Gregor thought his statement would only arouse another unappreciative crowd but right when he was about to try again Luxa cut him off.

"Why'd you come back?" She said. Why did he come back? Gregor asked himself. Was it just because of the fight he had at school and he really had nowhere else to go, or was it because he didn't fit in to the Overland because his roots were too deep underground. For some reason unknown to himself he found himself lying again, "I wanted to see how things have changed." Gregor got the feeling that this wasn't the right answer because it brought on another period of awkward silence.

But he needed not to wait for long because his ears told him they were descending and Aurora stopped flapping as she spread her wings for a comfortable coast to the ground. They landed on a small plateau and from Gregors vast knowledge of Underland geography, they landed somewhere in the deadlands. Luxa dismounted from her bat and took a deep breath, all the other riders stay stayed on their bonds and pranced into a semi-circle around Luxa in the most defensive position.

Scratching could be heard echoing around them, the acoustics bounced excellently on the rock in sharp definitive tones. Gregor then realized that his was how they communicated in the war as his ears picked up on different tones on the rock, each scratch sort of like a beat in a telegraph. This set the flyers around him at unease, always shifting their weight from one foot to another. Luxa whistled a small musical tone as if to speak back to the scratches she was hearing, then like a well-practiced orchestra the noise around them stopped instantaneously. Now instead of scratching a patter against the rock approached, starting quietly then growing like a stampede nearby. Some flyers at this point even took to the air yet Luxa stood with feet planted to the ground in no sort of defensive stance.

Then up from the edge of the plateau, hundreds, maybe even possibly a thousand rats came jumping and charging, snarling and racing towards Luxa and her party. At this point every flyer was in the air save Luxa and Aurora with Gregor still strapped immobilized. The army of rats stopped a mere hundred yards from them, each rat with an equally gruesome look on their face. After a few minutes of the crowd before Luxa was parted as a particularly loud and fat rat made his way through the ranks, sweeping the others to the side as he threw condescending words to ward off anyone who might threaten his rank

"My god you filthy scoundrels! Get back, don't you know you're in the presence of royalty!" The large gnawer stumbled forward on deceivingly skilled and balanced legs. Gregor knew the voice. He loved that voice, he hated that voice. The voice had made him do things he would've killed him for but he wouldn't change a thing if he had to do it again. "Now now my little faerie princess, is this anyway to treat our guest of honor? As many times as he's saved your precious little people's lives." Ripred said never breaking pace as he moved towards Gregor, ripping the cord that bound him by a flick of his claw freeing Gregor to the ground. Gregor rubbed his wrists, feeling blood pulsate through each finger once again and moving every joint that was stretched mercilessly.

"No time for petty politics nor small talk Ripred, what do you know of the cutters?"


	5. Future determined

**A/N Update: I'm really sorry about the update on this chapter! I guess I didn't do my research or was being plain stupid in my writing, but what i did was replace all the stellovets with Solovets but even ive forgotten about Solovets tragic history. Is it too much to ask everyone to stretch their imagination and just imagine if Solovet was still alive? please!**

"Please, please, it's been two months since you've last seen me. No 'I've missed you so much!' or at least a moment of heart felt embrace, aren't I your bond anyways? Supposedly the one you can't live without, oh, how did it go? Us one, we two…" Ripred spoke while pacing around Gregor, shooting the occasional glance at Luxa but obviously interested in the state of his old friend. Aurora behind Luxa fluttered in agitation at Ripreds mockery of the bonding practice.

"You knew that was just a political stunt." Luxa shot back with venom in her words, "In fact, I'd have you killed and strewn throughout the Underland if I had my way." This brought a stop in Ripreds pacing and a few seconds of thought, but with a hefty laugh he walked the death threat off as a mere accusation. Crouched down on four paws Ripred even smelt Gregor. Gregor heard the sniffle of a wet nose and the touch of a warm tongue on the back of his neck accompanied by the wreak of hot fish breath dampening his back.

After a few seconds of close examination the silence was broken by Ripred again, "I'm heartbroken Luxa. I'd really feel threatened if I just weren't so ecstatic to finally have a sparring partner back" he said in a flat monotonous voice.

Gregor noticed a newly brewed seriousness and bluntness in Luxa, very much changed from the young, but still serious, Luxa Gregor used to know. He got to his feet to face his old friend, "Long time no see eh?" Gregor said while dusting off his butt with his newly revitalized limbs, just in time to see Ripred's tail sweeping from the ground towards him. Gregor knew Ripred all too well then not to greet him with his guard down and pivoted to face the oncoming tail when a claw started coming towards him out of his peripherals. He staggered his stance to face both threats but the double fake rendered him vulnerable to the breathtaking headbutt he received to the chest immobilizing him back on the ground.

"A lil rusty, but we'll have the Underland's warrior back to fighting shape in no time." Ripred replied while helping Gregor to his feet again with his tail, letting him catch his breath as it was just pummeled out of him.

A bat landed next to the trio and an iron clad warrior dismounted to meet them all. Taking off his helmet, James kneeled before them, "We must hurry my queen, our orders were to scout, receive, then retreat back to Regalia as fast as we could."

Luxa just shot another look to Ripred, arms crossed and a smirk addressed on her face. "So" she said, "What do you know of the cutters?"

"Eh," Ripred grunted nonchalantly, "They should be knocking on the door of Regalia by nightfall. Those filthy buggers, bypassed the Deadlands completely by bordering the waterway and the cavernous tunnels by there. Guess they weren't up for a real fight" Ripred concluded glancing back at his small army of snarling and snapping gnawers.

"What about them?" Luxa chimed back, "Will they be joining us at Regalia?"

"Surely we will, we're growing as we gather other nomadic gnawers but we should make a mess of things against the cutters, plus whatever Neanderthals we can get with a backbone."

"Neanderthals?" Gregor whispered to Cerberus who had come back to comfort his dazed rider, "Yes, a rather denouncing name gnawers use to call other gnawers who live with humans, kind of the opposite since gnawers who live in the city are more civilized then those in the deadlands."

"Well then, I'll expect your appearance at the high hall this evening Ripred. And I'm sure we can find a nice field to accustom your gnawers" Luxa shot a look of disdain towards the wall of sweaty fur and cruel humor. "Run like the river…" she stated after the fact, mounting her bat with her back turned, no other parting comments to be said and an attitude willing to leave anyone who couldn't keep up.

Gregor wasn't about to be an exception, quickly jumping onto Cerberus to trail the dark pack of bats and riders. A glance back showed the increasingly shrinking mass of fur on the rocky landscape, an impacted trail of hundreds of paws pummeling the dusty earth showed the course of the gnawers over the day.

But it wasn't the thought of war that was on Gregors mind, nor the impending doom a recent prophecy could hold for him when he returned. Luxa was on his mind. What had happened to the girl he had come to know and love, the days in the past where the two would sneak off on their bats or the adventures the duo had grown close to with seemed like a desperate boys fantasy. His perfect image of her righteousness had been shattered in a mere morning by no more than a dozen cruel sentences.

The flight didn't nearly seem as long as the one going out but Gregor had a lot on his mind to pass the time coming back. Not a single word said the entire flight, nor gesture made, nor sigh sighed or cough coughed, Luxa's body guards nearly robotic in their acts and thoughts as a whole. The silence and awkwardness the entire time was nearly painful to Gregor, but the glowing lights of Regalia in the distance was a sweet relief for Gregors mental health.

They flew in high, again creeping along the rock face of the monstrous cavern in order to drop down onto the palace. When approaching the city Gregor noticed the streets completely empty, then remembering everyone evacuating to high ground when he woke up he knew that they were probably safely nestled towards the back of the city, where they could actually set up defenses and better protect an isolated population.

When dropping towards a landing pad high on the sheer rock face of the high hall, all the riders but Luxa and James peeled off to fly further towards the back of the city. Probably towards the barracks Gregor thought to himself later. As much as he had grown to love flying, having his feet on solid ground without the possibility of trying to be humiliated or tested was a sweet relief. And before even dismounting Cerberus, both Luxa and James were walking away and their bats flying off towards another entrance, their bats holding equal contempt towards Gregor. Taking a moment to regain his sore land legs, a familiar voice said the nicest thing Gregors heard all day.

"Welcome back warrior." An old man decorated in a single blue robe awaited him in the hall. Flowing gray hair flowed past his shoulders and down his back. His face tired, yet brightened with a gaping grin punctuating every wrinkle in his face.

No words needed to be said for Gregor, in fact even if he tried, Gregor probably couldnt even say anything intelligently so he resorted to the second best thing. He gave Vikus a hug. Vikus's body felt like a warm corpse under Gregors arms, not quite how he remembered his old friend yet happy just to see the man alive. "I apologize for the behavior of our queen." Vikus said as they parted from their embrace, "And apologize for any further inconveniences she may pose. Times have been tough on her, and unfortunately I say she's taken on more of her grandmother's character than her grandfathers."

"I've noticed" Gregor said sourly, but then optimistically rebutted, "Least I am back home." Trying to leave the subject on a happy note.

"Yes you are warrior." Vikus turned and Gregor followed through the elaborate corridors of the palace, "Luckily for us in the most convenient of time."

Gregor didn't like the direction the conversation had just turned.

"I'm sure you've noticed the Underland isn't in the most peaceful of states at the moment. Cutters are camped a mere few miles away, our government is in a transitional phase, and I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not doing the worst for where."

Gregor actually had noticed, time hadn't been nice to Vikus. Physically he's degrading and mentally he talks slowly like he's putting extraordinary effort into every sentence. "What do you mean the government is in a transitional phase?" Gregor asked as Vikus stopped at a room and walked in. Gregor followed in the chamber to see his own sleeping space, the average palace room, plush compared to last night's accommodations but nowhere near as fancy as palace chambers can be.

"I'm retiring Gregor" A smile flashed over Vikus's face at his own joke then sat down on a padded bench like he had been through some grueling physical activity. "Do you remember me telling you some years back how Luxa had limited power of the city even though she is supposedly the queen? Well that law is valid until she is sixteen which happens to be in two weeks, yet she also must be married in order to take the crown, and a wedding is also planned in two week's time."

"Is that – James?" Gregor replied anxiously, connecting the dots why he seemed to be on such good graces with Luxa and why he wasn't acting in sync with the other Underland cronies.

"Yes, unfortunately it is. An arrangement Solovet is rather anxious and excited about. She's been rather active these days despite her aging body. Physical limitations have seemed to skip over her and aimed right at me." Vikus groaned as he got back to his shaky legs, Gregor actually having to help him balance on his feet. "Anyways, dinner will be held in half an hour's time, and I'm sure you remember the layout of the palace."

Gregor did, the year spent down here had been the pinnacle of his life, and many nights lying in bed he would retrace the corridors of the palace picturing the times he walked leisurely down the halls and barricaded the halls in a bloody defense. Vikus had left before Gregor could ask him anything more, but he didn't mind, if anything he just wanted some time to admire the grandeur of the underground. Walking slowly around the room he ran his hands over the marble countertops, smelling the salty rustic smell of the entire Underland. When he noticed some fine spinner silken clothes in the closet, he compared them to that of his own dusty and a little bloodied coarse silk that a seaman would wear.

With new clothes in hand and the only possession Gregor brought to the Underland and probably doesn't need, his flashlight, he walked a course through the halls from memory leading him directly to a bath house where he badly needed a bath. Stripping all of his soiled clothes from his grimy body, he eased himself into the fragrant and warm waters of the bath closing his eyes to let the enjoyment of the moment take him over. Occasionally he'd hear a pair of feet walk down the hallway but never did they stop, passing by the bathroom unknowing of the Overlander relaxing inside. Gregor then started to recite all the prophecies from heart, 'Beware, Underlanders, time hangs by a thread' Time, Gregor thought, what was time. 'Time is running out, running out, running out' Time is running, is time tangible? What drives time, Gregor remember his father telling him about Einstein and relativity or something of the sorts. Something about how moving at the speed of light, time appears to stand still but what's the correlation between speed and time? 3X 10^8, formulas from school about light, but time doesn't have a formula, time confused Gregor.

Gregor suddenly realized what time it was, the Underland doesn't have a solar day but somehow manages a system of hours, minutes, and seconds, and even without a clock Gregor could tell he'd barely make it to the dining hall in a scrunch. Running into the hallway blinded by the shirt he was pulling over his head Gregor nearly toppled over the slow moving figure making its way through the hallway.

Pushing his head through his collar, Gregor was apologizing before even seeing the face he hit: "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I'm in kind of a big russsssh…." His mouth trailing off his last word as his mind already turning paths as he made eye-contact with the girl who's probably saved his life the most of anyone. "Neriss…." Cut off again by what could be considered a violent attack but what was really a jubilant hug.

"GREGOR!" Toothpick arms enclosed upon Gregor's chest, awkwardly wrapping his own around the tiny figure he gently patted her on the back as two Underlanders walked by giving him an awkward eye. "Oh my gosh! I've seen this day coming for a long while! I just didn't know when…" Nerissa said as she broke the hug and stepped back to size up the long lost friend.

Gregor finally got a good look at Nerissa too. She looked terrible. Her once thin hair slimmed even more, patched across her scalp and knotted at every opportunity possible; her pasty skin reached a translucency to almost appear more purple then pale, veins noticeable throughout her forehead and running up her neck to her face; her skin looked like a plague victim, rashes spread from her nose streaking across her cheeks, open sores decorated her forehead and even ventured down her jaw to her chin. Gregor was appalled. "You look great!" He said, not really knowing what else to say yet unable to not comment on her physical image.

"Ha, yeah right, I'm on an especially bad cold right now." Sniffling twice within the sentence. "Are you going to dinner? I'm sure everyone would be so glad to see you!" Gregor nodded and the two began to make their way through the labyrinth of stone walls and plush carpeting. The two talked. Well, to be accurate Nerissa talked and Gregor filled in the spaces which he was completely comfortable with, he had a lot to think about and not much to say. He just couldn't get over the debilitated girl before him. She did have a blue starry blanket draped over her shoulders which she kept tucked up to her neck but from the features protruding out, he pictured a figure sicklier than Vikus underneath.

The walk was short, but the accompaniment of royalty gave Gregor legitimate reason to be fashionably late to dinner. Light poured out of two huge double doors, swung open to boast the immaculate dining hall miles underground. Elaborate stonework domed the ceiling nearly a hundred feet high and the room was three times that deep. A single table stretched the length of the room, equidistant from the walls that paralleled it yet the space was filled with tables and desks pushed to the side. Equal numbers of chairs paired themselves down the table, enough probably to hold sixty people even though only fifty or so were seated giving Gregor a reassurance that he wouldn't be the last one seated, an inconvenience to everyone.

Two guards stood outside the door, decked from head to toe with more weapons to withhold or even kill someone than Gregor could think of. When approaching the threshold both guards glanced at Gregor then shifted as if ready to approach and deny Gregor entrance or detain him from Nerissa, but a nod from the girl beside him gave him the right of passage. The room was loud with opinion, alcohol bringing the truth out of everyone sitting at the table where arguments were spoken with their hands as much as their mouths. Lucky for Gregor, everyone seemed so preoccupied by what was before him that their eyes passed over him with no acknowledgement to his presence.

Two seats sat open at the far side of the room. Two figures sat at the head of the table, Solovet and Vikus, and when the two sat down Gregor felt the eyes of everyone in the close proximity upon himself. Both Luxa and James sat across from him and Nerissa, neither of whom raised an eye at his entrance but were preoccupied at the meal before them and their own company. Gregor looked at the plate before him, a soup of some sort with a side of vegetables. It all seemed so alien to Gregor even with his history, and even a meal like this wouldn't be out of the ordinary in New York yet Gregor hesitated at the meal.

Picking up a spoon and plunging a hearty amount in the well of his utensil he smelled the mixture: "Don't eat it, it's poisoned." Gregor looked to see Solovet grinning at him, the old nemesis looked none the worse for where compared to all his other old friends. Gregor took the bite. Laughing at her own practical joke she dug into her own soup: Luxa and James intent with eachother, Nerissa intent with stirring her soup, and Vikus looked like he was nearly about to keel over from sleep sat to his other side. Gregor's eyes watched a man approach from down the hall, making his way towards Gregors end of the table. His hand never stopped ferrying the soup from the bowl to his mouth via spoon as he tensed as the man walked by him and stopped by Solovet. Bent down, the two began a conversation of their own, except this one had an aura of importance about it. The hushed whispering of the two made Gregors ears even more in tune to hear what they were conversing about but the ambient noises about him drowned the heart of the conversation out.

Yet Gregor could still hold onto snippets, ". . . 'Need more time' . . . 'Blood sample not' . . .'patient getting close'. . ." None of these phrases making sense to Gregor. The man looked scared, eyes constantly glancing down the table and around his surroundings yet Solovet kept as calm as can be. In fact, it seemed like she was scalding the man for his failure. A quick glance from her eyes met Gregor's eyes which he immediately averted away. Acting like his attention was consumed by his soup, beads of sweat formed on the back of his head; the hot torches behind him seemed almost cool compared to the heated discussion before him.

Gregor thought he saw Luxa looking at him out of the corner of peripherals but when he glanced up he only caught the metallic blonde of the back of her head as she turned away from him. Gregor felt uneasy, he had finished the bowl of soup and felt out of place sitting intermixed with the royal family. Looking around several people had caught onto the stranger sitting at the table and he found himself the focus of conversation in the room. People bending over to get a better look, hushed whispers and distant connections made, rumors circulated down the table.

All of a sudden every eye was on Gregor, speechless and unblinking. The pressure of the violet gaze felt like he was 20 feet underwater, dazed an disoriented he looked around for the surface desperately but the crash next to him surfaced him immediately. The gaze wasn't on him, it was on Nerissa; the girl laying on the ground, chair tipped, convulsing violently and muttering insanely. Gregor was just as paralyzed by the scene before him as everyone else, mind urging to help the poor soul before him yet body unsure of what to do, so he just watched.

Luxa was the first to realize what was going on, and appeared on the ground in a flash before her cousin, coaxing her head in her lap calming the possessed victim. Then as spontaneous as it started, it stopped. The moment froze in time as everyone keeled closer in anticipation as to see what has become of the girl. Gregor thought the beating of his heart could be heard throughout the room but all he heard was the cackle of the torches on the wall.

Then all of a sudden Nerissa moved slightly, then sat up out of her cousins lap, re-righted her chair and sat down as if nothing ever happened. Everyone sat petrified at the possession of the girl before them but then to cement them into their seats, she began to speak.

_Warmblood once a bloodborne death_

_Now bloodborne is a warmblooded gift_

_The gift a skill of an ill-willed family_

_Left in the overland their blood goes bad_

_Warmbloods think twice before getting their hands bloodied_

_Yet the Cold Blooded lives to murder in the cold blooded_

_Blood in the streets. Blood on the walls. The blood of me and you_

_Yet one of our's blood isn't as blue_

_They sit and they watch, they want and they kill_

_A descendant they want, the descendant we ail_

_Yet care of ulterior motives, the threat that lies behind the walls_

_Tis a war against the cutters, a war against ourselves_

_Set aside our passion, set aside our laws_

_Set aside our history with the code of claw_

_Set aside our armies and set aside our diplomacy_

_To win this war, one blood needs to control the black sea_

_Three queens meet and three queens fight, but only one shall survive_

_Underland devasted, no life shall thrive_

_Their pawns of war clash as the scavengers of the Underland get fed_

_In a war like this, true blood runs red_

The possessed girl sat at the epicenter of the rooms attention after her last word for a few seconds before slumping back into her seat muttering to herself again. Gregor was dying to look around the room to see the crowd's reaction but felt if he took his eyes of Nerissa he would miss something important. Luxa was the first to move again, moving behind her cousin and pressing two fingers to the side of her neck. A single sigh of relief from her cut the tension in the room in half as everyone eased back into their chairs, itching to talk yet feeling inappropriate for the circumstances given.

"Bout time to break out the creamed shrimp sauce eh?" The huge rat came tromping through the stone double doors. The guards who stood watch were dwarfed by the half ton gnawer. Ripred walked into the room but stopped and sniffed around, ears perked to catch the nonexistent sound in the room. "Jeez who died?"

**A/N Wow this sucker took forever to get out. School starting and running at peak season I had a lot of time to think but not much to write. Nerissa didn't die by the way, just passed out.**


End file.
